The Daughter of Time
by chyna.duran
Summary: Broken wings, how fragile you can be, I just can't let you leave!Alone soaring endlessly throughout the pure sky up above!Don't hold back your tears, there's nothing left to fear!Just listen to your heart and smile only for yourself! An Ichhime fanfiction!RATED T for violence and gore!I'll let you know if there is change in content but rating will not change!Please give suggestions
1. Chapter 1

Summary: a Bleach/ Ichihime fanfiction , that takes place after the fullbring arc. RATED- K.

Disclaimer-I DO NOT OWN BLEACH!

CHAPTER 1: BEGINNINGS

Orihime Inoue felt tears stream down her face, as she the whirling flames around her burn the Seretei. She stood in the middle of the chaos, holding her hands tightly on her chest as she heard familiar voices echo around her.

"ROAR, ZABIMARU!"

"SCATTER, SENBONSAKURA!"

"DANCE, SODE NO SHIRAYUKI!"

She could do nothing, because she wasn't really there, she was a ghost, she was allowed only to observe, nothing more. Suddenly ,she felt a fast breeze brush past her body….

A person?!

She then turned her head to look back at what it was that had almost hit her.

Abarai-kun…..

The fallen warrior lay up against a smashed wall, red hair fallen over his face. His whole body was covered in blood, and his body so battered that he lay almost undistinguished, among all the other piles of soul reapers, whom also lay defeated, bathing in their own blood.

Orihime felt fear quiver all over her body as she ran toward her broken friend. When she came close to him, still running, she made a gesture with her hands as she shouted,"SOUTEN KUSHEEN, I REJECT!"

Silence…..

In shock, she fell on her knees beside Renji's body, eyes wide in looked down at the hairpins in her hand, and rapidly shook her shouted again,"SOUTEN KUSHEEN, I REJECT!"

Nothing….

She was about to try again when she suddenly heard a familiar voice shout,"RENJI!"

Kuchki-san….

She turned her head to see her old friend running toward them.A hint of joy erupted in Orihime's heart, as she was glad to see that she was still alive, but it quickly died as she sensed a hidden spiritual pressure thinking, she quickly screamed,"NO! RUKIA, STAY BACK!"

Too late….

Rukia's eyes grew wide with terror, as she turned her head toward the appearing spiritual pressure. But no sooner did a distorted hand grab her face, throwing her with full force through a nearby building.

Despite her terror, Orihime began to rapidly run to her wounded friend's aid, as the creature had begun to walk in the direction to which its target had flew. Remembering that he could'nt use Souten Kusheen, she instinctively grabbed an abandoned, nearby the sword felt foreign and wrong to her, she knew that he must detach herself from all fears, if she had any chance of saving her friend.

When the creature had finally gotten close to Rukia's body, Orihime lunged at it, raising the sword in a full attempt to kill. Her efforts, however, quickly became in vain as she passed straight through the creature's body, like a ghost. She fell to the ground, her body skidded, putting some distance between her and the tried to lift herself up with her arms,but then felt a stinging sensation shoot through her leg.

B-broken?Damnit!

Slowly, she lifted her head to see what had happened. Though her vision was blurry , she saw that Rukia was holding up her Zanpakto in a blocking position. As her vision became more clearer, she saw that the creature was pushing its sword down, with full force, at Rukia's.

Kuchki-san….no…

Rukia's eyes silently filled with terror, as she still tried to appear brave before her vile opponent.

Crack!….crack!….crack!….

Both Rukia and Orihime could feel their hearts stop, as they saw the white Zanpacto cracking in the middle on impact. Each snap echoed as the chaos around them seemed to stop, each snap counting down… to her death…..

Crack…crack…crack….

Rukia was too weak to get away ,half of her bones were broken, and her body was bloody and bruised, she barely had enough strength to hold back the creature's eyes wandered, searching for anything comforting to give her even the smallest bit of hope,anything but the distorted face of her killer. Surprisingly, she caught the gaze of stared at each other,and a deep sadness suddenly fell upon the entire rolled down Orihime's face as her dear friend stared into her was going to die here…..and she could do nothing….

But,..despite everything else…her eyes softened..and she managed to create a weak smile…And in the softest whisper she said, "Thank you, my friend…"

Orihime reached out toward her with one hand and screamed,"NOOOOOO!"

SNAP!...

As the beautiful, white Zanpacto snapped in two, the enemy's sword quickly, tore through Rukia's body, right below her lieutenant gagged blood, as she looked down at the bloody weapon that had stolen her life away, still holding the broken pieces of her once glorious creature tore it's weapon out of her body, which caused her to fall backwards.

Seeing that she wasn't dead yet,the enemy raised its sword to finish the final blow. Only to abruptly stop the thrust….just before it struck Orihime Inoue, whom had suddenly appeared, shielding Rukia with her entire body. She lay on the ground in front of the Soul Reapers body, hand stretched up towards the creature in an attempt to help her friend in the only way she knew how…She tried to keep a straight face, despite the pure agony her battered leg was causing her….

Slowly, the creature pulled back its unfinished thrust, turned, and began to slowly walk away….Suddenly used flashstep….and was gone…

Orihime stared for a moment in the direction, in which the creature had retreated. But her astonished gaze quickly disappeared, when she heard the wheezing sound of a half dead warrior behind her. She turned to see her friend breathing slowly and faintly.

"I-Inoue…..?"

Orihime stared at Rukia, as her fading eyes stared half closed and blankly at her auburn haired friend. Orihime's eyes wandered to look at the deep cuts and bruises all over the brunette's body. She was so badly beaten that Orihime even caught herself doubting that this broken and defeated soul was even the strong warrior that she had admired and adored.

Rukia's vision was blurry from all the blood flooding into her eyes , and she couldn't really tell that the smeared creature before her was her gentle friend. She forced the word out of her weak throat once more ,"Inoue...?"

Orihime was sobbing softly, as she still lay there mesmerized by the tragic sight. But she found herself come to the attention of Rukia's somber question. She forced herself to gain at least a small amount of her rapid emotions, and instead let her sobs cease, and let her emotion flood out of her eyes instead. She gently touched Rukia's limp hand and whispered, "I-I'm here..Kuchki-san…."

Rukia's eyes widened a little, but still remained dull, blank violet orbs.

"I-I'm so sorry Kuchiki-san….I can't…I can't…"Orihime's words were interrupted with hiccups and sobs , as her grip became tighter around Rukia's hand .However, she stopped abruptly when she her a soft chuckle, she looked up to see Rukia's emotionless face suddenly brighten up, as her lips slowly creased into a weak smile. Her eyes became filled with life once more, as they gleamed at Orihime , consumed with love and kindness.

"It's okay Inoue I know…..I know…."Rukia touched her face , as if she was a mother speaking to her daughter. The blood stained on Orihime's cheek, as her hand slowly came down, loosing its grip upon her face. Her eyes slowly closed , and smile died along with it, her whole body fell limp and still….

"K-Kuchki-san?"

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Silence….

"KUCHKI-SAAAANNN!"

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Darkness…

Orihime's eyes grew wide when she realized that she found herself in a dark void. The battered body of her friend no longer lay before her, and the burning Seretei had felt cold and icy, and her breath created steam in the air.

Dazed and confused she slowly forced herself to get up, only using one leg for eyes wandered for any sign of light or guidance.

There….

She suddenly noticed a woman standing a long distance away from her, but her features were still visible. Dim and gentle light illuminated all around her body, as if she was a candle. Her extremely long hair spun and twirled in the air space all around her body, its dark blue and golden highlights shown brilliantly as they glittered in the light. Light blue soul ribbons (which seemed to be a part of the same color dress she was wearing) acted as dance partners to her wondrous hair. Her dress, from what Orihime could see, had an incredibly long train, that surrounded the ground around her.

"Orihime Inoue…."The mysterious figure whispered, and Orihime shuttered as the voice echoed around her.

She knew this voice…but why…she felt a small tear roll down her cheek.

"Why does it hurt so much?"She thought.

"You must find the Light,"The woman's voice echoed throughout the empty void."For it may be the only thing that can save them…."

The black floor beneath Orihime became like glass and broke .

She was in mid air…above the burning Seretei…

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Her eyes became wide, as she began to fall backwards unto the ground. As she fell, she found herself whispering, "W-Who are you?.."

She heard the woman's painfully sad voice shoot through her ears once more, "Oh..dear child…you come to find many things in the days to come…but..some secrets are better left buried…"And when Orihime Inoue was barely an inch from the violent flames..she woke up..

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She found herself sitting up straight in her bed. She was sweaty and her heart was beating so fast she felt as if it was going to leap out of her chest. She calmed herself down, and sighed in relief.

Just a dream….wasn't it?

END OF CHAPTER 1


	2. Chapter 2

Hey you guys! So here is chapter 2!ENJOY!If you guys have any questions or advice, please comment!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BLEACH!

Chapter 2:

A Twist of Fate

The day began slowly that morning, as the nightmare weighed heavy on Orihime's mind .The apartment seemed even more empty and lonely as usual. She didn't really have an appetite for food, so she just made some coffee and grabbed a leftover donut from the basket of extras she'd gotten from work yesterday. She jumped when she heard her alarm clock ring.

late?...

She had stayed awake since 4:00am and was too terrified to go back to sleep, in fear that she might return to that place of despair. She only once took regards to get ready for school, but it had quickly slipped her mind as her thoughts trailed into places unknown. Nothing else in the world seemed to exist to her as she explored the deep origins of the nightmare. There was no doubt that she was tired, and being late for school made things no better.

She frantically got dressed and quickly stuffed her books into her bag. She then began to slip on her shoes, when she felt like she was forgetting something. She walked back to her small dresser, and scrambled for her blue hairpins. She found them in a short time, and then began to run to the door when a shocking pain shoot her in the head. She shivered a she felt an eerie feeling consume her, she looked down at her hairpins in despair. She took a deep breath and whispered, "Souten Keeshun…I reject…"She blinked in surprise when a golden shield suddenly appeared before her, and began to illuminate the entire room.

"O-Of course….why wouldn't it work?" She sighed in relief as she effortlessly summoned them back to their original form. She snapped back to reality and quickly ran out the door, locking it behind her. The memory of the nightmare continued to plague Orihime's mind on the way to school.

"Of course it was a dream! I mean it's impossible for the Soul Society- "She shook her head, as she forcefully halted the thought. "No! It was only a dream, nothing more….Dreams aren't real…" She started to think harder. "But everything felt so real….the pain in her broken leg…the wet tears on her cheeks….and…and..Rukia's …d-dea-"

She dove hard back to into the real world, as soon as she heard a horn of a car that was honking rapidly. She became paralyzed with fear, when she had finally realized where she was…

N-no…

She was in the middle of a crosswalk ….during a green light .Her eyes grew wide with despair, when she turned her head to see a car, desperately trying to slow down, speeding towards her. The entire universe seemed to suddenly move in slow motion, as if the world was trying to torture her, because it knew that the outcome of this simple mistake would be inevitable. She couldn't move, she couldn't think. She couldn't-..

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Her wave of demoralized emotions came to a close, as she felt warm arms wrap around her. She closed her eyes as she felt herself being pulled out of harm's way. The impact that followed when she finally hit the ground sent a jolt of vibration through her, but it also greatly surprised her when she didn't feel any pain from the fall. She immediately realized that the large body of her protector had shielded her from the hard, cement sidewalk.

She lay there in her savior's arms, her face buried deep in his chest. His strong embrace was so tight, that Orihime could hardly breath, but she didn't mind. How could she? Being in this man's arms felt so right, that she didn't dare to do or even say anything that might loosen his grip around her body. She then found that this wonderful feeling of warmth and security seemed very familiar….even his sweet scent was so welcoming and vibrate to her.

"Bastard….he didn't even stop!"Orihime grew incredibly hot, when she heard his voice bitterly hiss.

"You okay, Inoue?" Orihime jerked when she felt his hot breath being tenderly directed toward her. Seeing that he was holding her too tight, he loosened his grip, giving her some room to look up. She sheepishly began to look up, debating on what to say. However, when she finally meet the soft gaze of his amber eyes, the only word she could slip through her lips was, "K-Kurosaki-kun?"

End of chapter 2

So that's the second chapter!Please tell me what you thought of it,please give advice and help if you have it! Thanks so much for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Hi guys! So one of my reviewers said that I should have a longer summary, so last chapter I wrote that Ichigo saved Orihime from a speeding car, and then I just thought it would be fun if I left a cliffhanger. So in this chapter there will be a few different events in order to make the chapter longer! So in order to not put in too many spoilers, Ichigo is basically worrying about her during school and then Orihime tries to avoid Ichigo, but instead runs into Uryu! Meanwhile, Chad is trying to give Ichigo some advice, and then in the next chapter the real story begins!

Chapter 3:

Silent Protector

Ichigo Kurosaki and Orihime Inoue stared at each other for what it seemed like ages, neither one daring to say a word. Orihime felt a spring of joy sprout up out of her heart. She could feel her eyes grow moist, but she decided that it was best to be strong, so she held the droplets tightly in her eyes. Then….Ichigo's long forgotten question suddenly processed into her brain.

"Y-Yes! I alright!" She stuttered, as she blushed with embarrassment at her delayed answer.

With that, Ichigo smiled and gently let go of her, allowing her to rest her bottom on the pavement. He stood up, and Orihime looked down at the ground, still blushing, and stared to rub the back of her head. As soon as he was up straight, he immediately held out a hand to her, she at first, hesitated a little. But still, she sheepishly took his hard hand, and whimpered a bit when he lifted her entire body up with only one hand. She smiled at him when she was finally on her feet, but he had already bent down again to pick up her bag. He kindly handed it to her and she grinned once again, and Ichigo, greatly appreciating this, smiled gently and rubbed his head. He suddenly grew serious and looked at her with very concerned eyes.

"Inoue….what happened back there?" His face showed no trace of anger or sympathy, in fact it was just normal. She tried to read his expression, but got absolutely nothing, her grip became tighter on the bag's handle, as her gaze lowered down at the ground.

Ichigo sighed, "You know, you've gotta be more careful…I mean if I hadn't been passing by you'd probably be-" He stopped himself when he heard a soft sobbing sound.

Damnit! He cursed to himself.

He didn't mean for his friendly scolding to sound harsh, and he definitely didn't mean to hurt her feelings. It was his fault…because she is his responsibility, she was in harm's way because he couldn't protect her good enough, and that in itself….was a sin to him.

"I-I'm sorry…Kuro..saki..kun…I..was...day..dreaming..and..and-" Before even one tear could escape her hazel orbs, she felt a warm hand begin to gently rub the top of her head.

Her teary eyes traveled upwards to meet the Shigami's gaze once again, and, to her surprise, his chocolate orbs had become even more delicate as they gazed upon the auburn's delicate appearance. His smile was bigger than usual and it had even startled her a little, because she had never seen such a rapid change in his emotions before.

"I-Ichigo?" Her soft voice questioned his actions and at the same time appreciated his sudden kindness.

"Oh, it's O.K!" He sweetly cooed as he tried to mend the spirit that he had slightly damaged. "Just promise me you'll be more careful, alright?"

His heartwarming smile made her forget all her troubles, and she dorkishly nodded, "Mum hum!" With that, he lightly felt her hair until his hand reached her tips, and he withdrew, letting her auburn hair go, he casually placed his hand back in his pocket. The touching moment came to a close when they both heard the piercing noise of the school bell ring in their ears.

"Crap!"

Suddenly, Ichigo grabbed Orihime's hand and said, "Come on, we're gonna be late!" Orihime became bright red, as she began to run with him to school, holding each other's hand every step of the way.

When they had finally reached the classroom, they saw that the teacher hadn't arrived yet, and they sighed in relief. Orihime's heart pounded, not only because of the race with Ichigo, but at the fact that he still hadn't let go of her hand.

"Inoue!" Tatsuki waved at her friend enthusiastically. Orihime returned her greeting and began to stroll towards her, hastily letting go of his warm hand. He stood silently and a little disappointed in the doorway as he watched her go. As soon as he commenced going to his seat, Keigo leaped out of nowhere and yelled, "Kurosaki!"

Taking no surprise in this sudden attack, he slyly hit him with his bag, sending him flying, "Hey Asano!" While Keigo lay unconscious on the ground, Ichigo took his seat and took out a text book and started to pretend reading it. He immediately started to look through the corner of his eye in the direction of Orihime. His gaze was filled with heedfulness. Her caramel hair glistened in the sunlight, as she sat on the window sill, dazing out the window. She didn't seem to be paying attention at all, and Ichigo thought that he looked incredibly worried about something. He could never really explain it, but he had always felt as if her well-being was his responsibility, and he would always find himself being way too over protective of her as well. At first, he thought her unsettling behavior had been caused be the crash, but the more he stared at her, the more he could see that her hidden pain was much more deeper than that….

"What is she hiding?" He thought, dreamilyto himself, and no sooner did the teacher waltz into the classroom, and began rambling on about awful traffic.

All morning, Ichigo found himself glancing every so often at Orihime, and each glance dragged him into his self-created web of devotion to his oblivious healer. Though he seemed like she was looking at the lesson, she was really off in her own little world. His eyes wandered to the clock, and saw that lunch was going to start in around five minutes. He therefore decided that he would try and speak with her at the beginning of lunch, then maybe he could gently break her walls.

As soon as the bell had rung, Tatsuki arose from her desk and walked over to Orihime, whom was still gathering her things. Ichigo saw this and slowly put his essentials into his bag, in order to buy his time until he could find her alone.

"Did you still wanna get ice cream after school?" Tatsuki asked Orihime, when she had finished loading her materials.

"Oh! That..well..ummm.." She grew silent, as she rubbed the back of her neck and glared down at the floor. "A-Actually…I have a bunch of chores to do back home….and I'd like to get started on them…so I don't think I'll be able to…."She said, trying to fake a smile. And before Tatsuki could even respond, she had scurried out the door.

Ichigo had watched the entire spectacle from afar, and was just about to after her, when Tatsuki had appeared in front of him, her arms crossed and a serious expression scripted on her face.

Ichigo was annoyed by this, and tried to avoid her questions by acting casual, "Hey Arisawa, what's up?"

She sighed calmly, "You've noticed it too, huh, Kurosaki?" He stared through him, easily making him confess.

"Yeah", he responded, quietly. "I was going to go talk to her right now." He paused, " What how do you-?"

She cut him off bluntly, "We saw what happened this morning."

He grew red and began to stutter," Y-You s-saw? W-Wait..WE?!"

She had no reaction to this, and was so straightforward that it made him even more nervous. "Yeah. Ishida, Sado, and me. We were walking by at the time and saw you and Inoue. Also,.. I've been meaning to thank you for what you did." She smirked at him. "Now, I know you're eager to help her, but I think it's best if you wait until after school, and I don't think either of you have work so there's no need to rush." She chuckled softly.

"She's enjoying this!" He thought angrily, and sighed in realization that she was right. He sighed and said, "Fine.." He tried to keep from smiling at the thought of walking her home.

Tatsuki smiled slightly, as he waved and walked past her, exiting the room. She snickered as she thought, "Well….better late than never. Eh, Kurosaki? If anyone can save her….It's him." She departed out the door.

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Orihime began to walk sluggishly, when she had gotten to a point where she had escaped Tatsuki's radar. She was still so tired from all the running she'd been doing today, and her exhaustion got even worse when she realized that she had to go to her Knitting Club meeting in a few minutes.

"Oh, what am I going to do?" She thought to herself. She really didn't want to go; however, she didn't want to be dishonest or rude. After all, they were expecting her, and it would be impolite if she didn't show up without warning.

"But still…I'm hardly in shape to do anything today, I think I'd just be a burden anyway….so it's actually best if I don't show up." She convinced herself.

"Inoue?" Her head practically hit the ceiling, when she heard a familiar voice attack her from behind. She turned to see Uryu, waving coolly, as he strolled towards her.

"Ishida-kun?" She stared, dumbly at the Quincy.

He smiled, "Where you on your way to the meeting?"

"Well…" She swallowed hard, wondering what she should say, because she knew that if just one wrong response were to pass through her lips, the questions would flood over her. "I-I was actually going to skip it today…" She whispered.

"Eh?" He stared at her in disbelief. At this, she began to panic and nervously fidget. He saw this, and quickly corrected himself, "I…mean….that's okay!"

Her head was facing toward the ground, her hair covering her face, in order to try and hide herself. She glanced up at him, curiously, as she thought, "What? He's just going to let it slide?!"

Unknown to Orihime, Uryu knew perfectly well that she was hurting, and had decided that he would do his best to be delicate. She outwardly laughed, trying to mask her depression. This startled Uryu; nevertheless, he made his move, "Inoue, are you all right?" He filled his question with as much kindness as he could muster.

She blinked at him, when she had straightened up, "Fine, why?"

He stared at her for a while , his eyes gleamed with gentle apprehension, "Well…we saw..Arisawa, Sado, and I…" He swallowed hard, " We saw Kurosaki save you…" He felt the hesitant words slip past his lip's defense system. Uryu's expression was blunt and pale, as he glanced at Orihime, who's face had flushed pale and had become lifeless; however, then it was suddenly filled with a blinding red glow.

"Y-Y-You s-s-saw?!"Her emotional explosion almost blew Uryu off his feet. She saw this and immediately covered her mouth as if to say that she was sorry. "Oh! I'm sorry Ishida-kun...it's just that I was hoping to forget about that…." She cooed this faintly. Uryu didn't know how to respond without asking anything that would upset her, so he kept quiet. "I don't know what's wrong with me lately….I've just been so depressed and sad…..and I don't wanna talk about it with anyone…"Her eyes began to sting a tears started to formulate, making her hazel orbs sparkle.

Uryu scooted in closer to her shivering image, "No one….not even….him?"

She looked up at him, burst into tears, "ESPECIALLY NOT HIM!" She couldn't hold it in any longer, she had to cry, she had to let at least some of her sadness escape her soul in tears. Uryu couldn't get a word in edgewise, so he had decided to let her cry, because he knew it couldn't be helped. "I….I just…can't…I CAN'T BARE TO BE A BURDEN TO HIM EVER AGAIN!" The words that sprang up from her quivering lips, felt like painful acid. She looked up at him, only seeing his blurry outline, and it completely astonished her when she felt arms wrap around her. Uryu had suddenly allowed his softer side to pour out. She was still whimpering a little, and he could feel tears wetting his uniform. At this he softly said, "You're not a burden, Inoue. So…who cares if you can't fight? You heal, don't you? In fact, if you hadn't been there ith us all those times...Kurosaki would probably be dead, and Kuchiki, Sado, me, and a lot of other people. You are the most important edition to team…and Kurosaki knows this, why else would he sacrifice everything to protect you? He lo-"No, it's not his place. He pulled away gently, now facing her, "What I mean is…you mean a lot to us, Inoue, and we it has been our honor to assist in your protection." He smiled at her, and she smiled gently, her eyes still swollen and red from her salty tears.

"Thank you Ishida-kun.." He nodded, lightly in acknowledgement.

"So..are you sure you don't want to go?" He asked her, gently.

"Y-Yes." She answered in her usual sweet and quirky voice.

"Aright, I'll so you later, Inoue." He smiled and walked away, leaving her alone in the silent hallway. Even though Uryu had relieved some of the pain that had been crushing her, she still felt strange and uneasy.

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After lunch, the rest of the school day swept by fairly quickly. Perhaps because the world knew about the events that would occur after the last bell rang. Ichigo had already packed and was ready to leap at least six minutes before it rang. He knew now that he wasn't going to let the opportunity slip past him a second time.

RING!

That was it….Orihime had sprang out of her seat, and had practically flash stepped out the door. Ichigo was surprised by this, but had swiftly reacted the same way, and had chased her down the halls and steps, and both were soon outside and running down the sidewalks. He had finally caught his breath and shouted, "INOUE, WAIT UP!" She skidded to a halt at the sound of her name, and whirled around to find Ichigo suddenly appear behind her.

She made an adorable sound of surprise, that both startled and amused Ichigo, and was followed by, "K-Kurosaki-kun? W-Why-?"

Ichigo was hunched over and breathing hard, "C-Could I walk you home?" He looked up, still breathing heavily, and saw her face become a brilliant shape of pink.

"W-W-W-W-W-WHAT?!" Her mind had exploded, her fondest dreams had come true, yet it had to be today of all days.

Ichigo had finally caught his breath and was now standing up right, and slightly blushing. "Well…I was wondering if…I could walk you home….." He scratched the back of his head, and let his eyes wander, aimlessly.

She was still bright red, but had successfully contained her excitement and sheepish ways, by simply nodding her head up and down, cutely. He smiled, awkwardly and began to walk with her, leading the way. She walked a few inches behind him, and when people would see them, they would think they looked like a shepherd and his sheep, because she followed him with such humility and trust in him that he would protect her from anything that might hurt her. They soon entered the busy side of town, which was always bustling with people, and piled high with shops. She found herself wondering why he had decided to do this for her, and had soon convinced herself that it was because he was feeling guilty about that morning. "K-Kurosaki-kun…if thi is about what happened this morning…I-I'm really s-sor-" She was quickly interrupted.

"Hey! Do you wanna get some ice cream?" He asked her cheerfully, when they had stopped in front of the ice cream shop.

The color in her face had returned, "W-Why?"

"Well… I know that you didn't want to go with Arisawa, because you didn't want to worry her, and you seemed pretty disappointed," He said this uncomfortably, but sweetly. "And I guessed that since we're here, it wouldn't hurt to do it now."

She gawked at him for a while, and they whole world seemed to move in slow motion. She became overjoyed inside, but she never allowed her delight to show. She finally got up the nerve to speak, "Y-Yes…" She said, cheerfully and hesitantly.

With that, he waltzed up to the door and opened it, so that she could slip through. There was hardly anyone in the small building; therefore, it took them almost no time at all to order and receive their sweet delights. Ichigo sat across from her in awe most of the time, as she polished off seven different scoops of ice cream, a banana underneath it all, topped with globs of hot fudge, and one small, juicy cherry on the very top. He felt kind of pathetic when he saw the dinky, little scoop that he got, compared to her delectable monstrosity. When they had both finished their treat, she relaxingly sighed, "Thank you so much Kurosaki-kun." She smiled at him and tilted her head, cutely. This kind gesture made him feel warm and fuzzy inside.

"Glad to do it, Inoue." He said smiling, his eyes filled with gentle compassion. "Listen…I know that you'd rather do anything right now, rather than talk, but Inoue….don't you know that I could never walk away, when I know fully well that you're hurting?" He looked into her eyes, she could feel him touch her soul, and then the tears would begin to rise…she knew at least this….He took one of her hand, which sat on the table, and her whole body began to shake with the feeling of future crying, and unbearable temptation to love. He squeezed her hand, not too tightly, but just right. "Please…. Just… talk to me, Inoue."

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"Okay…" She whispered so softly that it hurt him. "It's actually not because of the incident this morning….it's actually been going on a lot lately…."She stopped for a moment, expecting him to respond, but he remained quiet, so she went on. " It feels like I'm being choked by something heavy….like something's squeezing me inside…as if there's this strange spiritual pressure that only I can feel…." She became strangely quietly and seriously. "Something's coming Kurosaki-kun…and it's something…awful…"

Suddenly, her eyes grew wide with dread, and her whole body trembled. Before Ichigo could even respond, there was a moment of a stinging sound ring through the air, that made them both cover their ear and close their eyes in pain.

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When they had recovered from the sudden surge of threat, they found that the entire shop was empty. Orihime was on the ground, and still quivering with trauma. Ichigo helped her up, smoothly and lead her outside…only to see that the streets were completely empty.

"What the hell?!" Ichigo stood there, with Orihime at his side. Both were horrified and stunned. They were hardly give any time to contemplate the event, because they both suddenly felt an enormous spiritual pressure practical crush them. They turned to only see a menacing, black portal appear in the middle of the street.

"T-The GARGATA?!"

They heard a woman's voice generate from the Garganta, "Well, well, well, seems as if her little plan worked! Now I won't be distracted by all the pathetic screams and pleas, when I'm trying to retrieve you! So then, shall we do this the easy way, or the hard way?"

End of Chapter 3

Thank you all for reading! I'm sorry it took so long! Please tell me what you thought of it in the comments, and say any suggestions you might have! Thank you! Chapter 4 will be down by next week or sooner!


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